Indy's Story

Indy Avery is 15 years old and wants to do something really significant to help Ukraine as the war continues, and show his solidarity to those afflicted, particularly the most vulnerable – children, animals and the elderly.

To raise money and keep awareness of the conflict current, he is walking 102 miles across England along the Cotswold Way trail, from Chipping Camden in Gloucestershire to the ancient city of Bath in Somerset.

He decided to increase the challenge by walking in winter and by walking every day, regardless of the weather, because "Ukrainians can't take time off from the war."

He will be carrying the Ukrainian flag with him on every walk, and will photograph it along the way in the changing landscape.

Hiking since he was six years old, Indy has already walked many long distance paths, including the Thames Path, the St Thomas Way in the Welsh Marches, and the Peddars Way in Norfolk. In 2021, he walked 68 miles along the Oxfordshire Way raising over 10.5k for the Anti-Bullying charity, Bullies Out.

In 2023, he completed the Ridgeway making over £4k for the UNHCR Ukraine Emergency appeal – doing the Cotswold Way thus represents his ongoing commitment to the Ukrainian people and the incredible work done by the United Nations to support them and other refugees and displaced people across the world.

The Cotswold Way

The Cotswold Way is one of the loveliest trails in England, stretching 102 miles along the high escarpment known as the Cotswold Edge. It crosses ancient hill forts, Jacobean manors, honey-stoned market towns and villages, magnificent beech woods and Capability Brown parkland, rising and descending all the way, with breathtaking views across to the Malverns, the Black Mountains and the Severn estuary.

Although only officially inaugurated as a National Trail in 2007, the idea of one maintained, long-distance track across the Cotswolds had been mooted for years and was first established as a coherent route in 1970.

Recording Indy's progress here, we will be walking from the trailhead in Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire along the path for 102 miles (164Km) all the way to the trail end in the centre of the city of Bath.

"One contiguous pathway composed of..variations on the same theme of stone and earth and hedgerow: a knitting together of pilgrim paths, salt and drovers’ roads, stony Roman marches, cut-purse thorn tracks, damp, ferny hollow ways, Puck lanes heady with faerie elderflower and hawthorn, wind-whipped barrow climbs, and the stalwart workaday paths of Cotswold country folk and their beasts – run, walked, gambled, skittered, rolled-down, and trudged by women, children, men, sheep, horses, geese and cattle for centuries, in snow, rain, hail and sun."

About UK for UNHCR (The United Nations Refugee Agency)

UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency or High Commissioner for Refugees, is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

What’s happening in Ukraine?

After 3 years of full-scale war in Ukraine, the needs of civilians are growing amid intense attacks and as another gruelling winter season sets in. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced many people to flee their homes. As the war continues, humanitarian needs remain high both in Ukraine and in surrounding countries hosting refugees from Ukraine.

The recent escalation of hostilities has increased the humanitarian needs, with families expected to face the worst winter since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine due to extremely cold weather and attacks on vital energy infrastructure.

More than 5.6 million refugees from Ukraine have now fled the country to seek safety. In addition, over 3.7 million people are internally displaced within Ukraine’s borders.

Despite the ongoing war, UNHCR is staying and delivering whilst providing relief operations across Ukraine and in neighbouring countries to support fleeing civilians. Urgent needs include shelter, relief items such as blankets, and specialist protection – all of which rely on voluntary donations.

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